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Kikuichi Elite Sujihiki Question From a Lefty

Hi. I'm looking to purchase a western carbon sujihiki for under $200 and have been looking at the Kikuichi Elite Carbon 270. Since I'm a lefty—is the blade very asymmetrical [convex?] to the point that it wouldn't be a good choice even if I moved the edge to left-handed? My sharpening skills are not great—but decent.

Also, I've read many positive reviews on the knife in the past—but not a lot of them recently, just wondering why.

Any insight on the Kikuichi suji or other knife suggestions for this lefty would be greatly appreciated.

I've had a fair bit of experience with helping out a left handed chef tweak his blades. It's a tricky bit. Even though they aren't single bevel blades, a lot of the Japanese "western style" knives still follow the traditional Japanese style of the left side being flat, 90 degrees to the spine and the right side is the side with the bevel that tapers to the edge. I happen to like this a lot, but I'm a right handed person, so it's not exactly an issue. What I've noted is that if you find a Japanese blade which has a V grind or "Western style" grind where both sides of the blade are tapered to the edge, you'll probably be happier. There's a certain ahem, knife seller, who contracts with a Mass. based knife company to make Japanese inspired blades. These have a V-grind. My friend has been very happy with them, as he doesn't have to do anything to the knives. He can use them out of the box without any modifications. I have a very strong preference for the flat left side, so I don't really care for them, but he's found a solution which doesn't require a lot of modification or the cost of a special order lefty blade. Through my experience with him, I've observed that the beefier the Japanese knife, the more issues he would have, even if I applied a bevel to the left side of the blade. The lasers were far less problematic. He'd have a little trouble here and there, but putting a little bit of a relief bevel on the left side seemed to dramatically improve the performance for him and he'd be quite happy with the performance until he'd sharpen away enough of the blade to make it a bit thick behind the edge. Stick to thinner blades and/or blades with thin profiles behind the edge and you'll probably be pretty happy. Think Carter, any of the lasers, Blazen, etc.

I'd actually gone to that link a few days ago—but for some reason there are not a lot of reviews out there on the Masahiro Carbons. Have you ever used one? I also don't feel great on paying such a premium [$216 lefty vs $172 for righty] for a left-handed knife. For the lefty price, I could just save up $40 more and get a Konosuke White #2 Sujihiki—with a wa handle. Which maybe I should consider—never used a wa knife, perhaps it's time to jump into the wa pond.

The Masahiros are solid. Good steel. They aren't flashy, but definitely get the job done. They're a bit of a sleeper brand around here. Don't get a lot of talk but those who have them like them. Unfortunately, there's always a bit of a price premium for the lefty knives. The premium on the Masahiros isn't too bad. Others will charge you and will regrind the edge to be lefty friendly, but it's still a righty friendly blade shape. The only other option is what you've hit upon, buy a righty and tweak until you're happy. The Konos are thin, so this shouldn't be a big issue, but the Masahiro will be set up from the start to work best for you, so you'll need to decide if this is worth the premium.

The Masahiros are solid. Good steel. They aren't flashy, but definitely get the job done. They're a bit of a sleeper brand around here. Don't get a lot of talk but those who have them like them. Unfortunately, there's always a bit of a price premium for the lefty knives. The premium on the Masahiros isn't too bad. Others will charge you and will regrind the edge to be lefty friendly, but it's still a righty friendly blade shape. The only other option is what you've hit upon, buy a righty and tweak until you're happy. The Konos are thin, so this shouldn't be a big issue, but the Masahiro will be set up from the start to work best for you, so you'll need to decide if this is worth the premium.

+1 on the masahiros. I always forget about them even though I had the virgin carbon gyuto and loved it. The steel is good, not very reactive, and they're well made. I gave it away to a co worker as a house warming gift so I still get to see her from time to time =)